Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Vanderbilt gets 14th commitment, and yes, that's a lot for this time of year

Sure, recruiting is about more than volume. But midway through July, having a bunch of commitments is an excellent thing. It means your favorite players, the guys you made offers to right off the bat and think are a good fit for your program, are choosing you.

This time last season, Vanderbilt had two recruits. Today, the Commodores have 14.

The latest is Sharrod Golightly, appropriately named at this point because ESPN says he's "a little light in the pants." How light is uncertain, because his weight ranges from 168 to 180 on the recruiting sites. But ESPN also calls him a "superb edge blitzer and contain strong safety," and describes him as a smart, quick and agile player who knows when to take chances. Sounds like a good fit for our defense, huh? Though he's listed as a safety, he could end up at cornerback. He's about 5-11, 180 pounds and had offers from Ole Miss, South Carolina, NC State, UAB and New Mexico.

Oh, and he's from Decatur, Ga., which brings to five the number of verbal commitments Vandy's gotten from the Atlanta area (also counting Grant Ramsay and Kyle Woestmann from Marietta, Kenneth Ladler from Stone Mountain, Jonathan Krause from Snellville), and six if you count Calhoun (Nash Nance), which is about 60 miles away. Trent Pruitt is about 160 miles south in Fitzgerald.

In all, half of our 14 commitments are from the Peach State.

But back to our point about numbers being a good thing in July. Only Alabama (16), Florida (15) and LSU (15) have more verbal commitments right now than Vandy does. And those are the only schools in the SEC the Commodores haven't beaten for recruits. Here's a look at the remaining schools, including their total commitments so far and the players we've outrecruited them for.

Georgia: 14 total commitments. Lost Kyle Woestmann to VU.

South Carolina: 13 total. Lost Sharrod Golightly, Logan Stewart and Woestmann to VU.